Nero Darius
Nero Darius is the 44-year-old Guild master of the Illegal Guild Abyss Fang, created some 400 years ago. He is a knowledgeable man who studies magic pertaining to darkness. He is also incredibly manipulative, winning many young warriors and mages through this trait. Appearance Despite his stature as Guild master of the dark guild Abyss Fang, Nero keeps a relatively simple, and unsuspecting appearance. Often regarded as handsome he keeps his neck length, dark brown hair slicked back with only a single strained remaining in front of his face. Although he still has them, at one time in his life, Nero wore a pair of thick, black glasses. It is unknown when he stopped wearing them, as it seems his chestnut colored eyes have no sight problem. In addition to his well defined, and slim face, he sports a rather slim, yet built physic. More often than not, many have underestimated his strength when they look at him. Hs choice of clothing is also rather simple, donning a pure white, shitagi(下着, gusoku shita lit. "under clothing") with black fringes, that is kept open at the his mid chest, and splits apart at his thighs. Around his waist he wears a black sash tied tight to his waist. Over top of the shitagi he wears another pure white garment, a long, simple, suit jacket with black fringes that match the under clothing. More often than not he keeps it undone. His ankle length pants match the simplicity of his outfit, keeping the bland white color with a black fringe at the top and bottom. From his ankle up, the pants are extremely baggy and loose. This was a purposeful design choice by Nero to allow fluid movement when in battle, and to make it hard for his opponent to judge where his leg is. The pants tighten around his ankles where they meet his black, workout style shoes. Personality Nero makes it a point to keep a simple, and well-spoken demeanor when speaking to those around him. Often seen addressing his subordinates by their given names, even calling his butler Bruce by his first name rather than last like others would. Most see this as a sign of weakness, giving them the impression that he is a weak leader. This is, in fact, a part of his manipulative personality. He keeps this demeanor toward people knowing that they are more likely to trust him with their secrets, or with their problems, allowing him to use what he has learned to his advantage. There are very few times that his demeanor changes, and fewer still who can make it change. The times that it does change are when he feels challenged. Whether it be by one of his subordinates, or someone who can challenge him on an intellectual level. When he does feel challenged he becomes very calculating, and focused. Letting an almost cold demeanor take over as he decides what to do. When he does come to a decision, he will use everything he has at his disposal to do what he needs to. One of his hidden personality traits, and one that very few people know about, is his hatred of being anything other than the top. This stems from his childhood where he constantly came in second for almost everything, and there always being one person who was better than him. He began to resent that person, and therefore grew a hatred for getting anything less than first, so when he doesn't feel that he is first, or that being the top is getting taken away from him, he will lash out, and use his full power to stay where he has worked so hard to get to. History During his childhood, Nero was what many would have considered to be a prodigy. He was incredibly smart, and is able to retain and learn large amounts of information in short amounts of time. His parents encouraged him to be the best that he could be, supplying him with books, and lacrima that would help him to learn what he needed to. They even used all of their money, their life savings to send him to the best school they could find. It was in this school that he met one of his closest friends, and most hated enemies, Ariana De Santo. At the time they met they became close friends, often studying together and helping each other in areas that either had trouble with. For a time Ariana and Nero were both of the same skill, when it came to classes, training in either magical or physical combat, even on tests. This was until they reached the higher classes in their school. It was there that Nero experienced for the first time his hatred for being anything less than first. During one of the preliminary tests for a class he ranked second while Ariana ranked first. The girl thought that Nero must have messed up on something and asked the younger Nero if he wanted help. This was a new concept to him, he had never needed help in the past. However he hated the feeling it gave him, knowing that he may have fallen behind, or worse, could need help. Denying his friend's request he began to study everything he could get his hands on. He started training and practicing both his magical and physical combat as much as possible. It was during a training session that he met another person that he would keep contact with even when he turned to Abyss Fang. A young mage named Gabriel who was in the majority of his and Ariana's classes. Although Nero had never paid attention to the man it was clear that Gabriel held both Nero and Ariana in high regards. Gabriel even asked Nero if he could meet Ariana who he confessed was the girl of his dreams. Nero saw this as an opportunity to try and get Ariana to mess up in her life, if he was able to get her and Gabriel together, it might distract her enough to become the top of his class. He did however know this would require a lot of time, but he was willing to invest it. Nero speaks of this as his first documented time trying to manipulate someone to get what he wanted. An unforeseen variable became apparent after Gabriel had met Ariana and had become part of their group, even moving to become the third best in their class with Nero taking second and Ariana taking first. Not only did Gabriel and Ariana fall in love, but she continued to be the best, and better than him. It was around this time, at the age of 18 that he started to delve into dark magics and what most would consider to be evil ideas. While he had in the passed dabbled in what dark magics were, becoming fully interested during a project where he had to research the topic, it wasn't until Ariana and Gabriel started fully using light based magic that he wanted to use something else. He debated what to exactly go into for a while, before finally settling on darkness magic after finding an ancient book on it in the deepest part of his schools library. In reality, he developed two magics, darkness and barrier magic. His darkness magic was a secret to most except for Ariana and Gabriel who he told due to them being his teammates. It of course didn't surprise him that they both developed light based magics as both were always good people and did good deeds. It wasn't that he wasn't a good person in his youth, he was just genuinely curious about why darkness magic was always such a taboo. This curiosity pushed him to start studying more, and his curiosity grew with everything he learned. Magic & Abilities Capabilities Monstrous Magical Power: '''Nero, despite his looks, holds an immense amount of magical power within him. This allows him to use spells such as the Amaterasu magic seals with nowhere near as much effort required by most other mages that use the magic. In addition to that, he holds a very unique magical aura. In most cases, a magical aura is an aura that appears around the user comprised of their magical power, the shape, color, and size are all indicative of the mage themselves. In the case of Nero he casts a dark, navy blue aura that holds no real shape. It only produces small tendrils around him that he can outstretch and make bigger the more he exerts his power. However he keeps his aura small and close to his body, as its uniqueness doesn't have anything to do with it's size. Instead, once a person sees his aura form, they feel an intense weight fall on them. Described like having the weight of an army over them, an untrained mage would simply fall to their knees from the overwhelmingly massive weight. This in and of itself is indicative of Nero's most deep seeded motivation. To have everyone fall and kneel before him. '''Magic Seals: During his fight against the previous guildmaster of Abyss Fang, Nero was enchanted with magic sigils that greatly hindered the magic that he could produce, and how much of it he could use. These sigils are burned into his shoulder blades and prevent him from using his strongest magics. He is currently spending all of his resources and power as the current guildmaster to find a way to get rid of the seals. Magics Darkness Magic Darkness Magic: '(闇の魔法, Yami no Mahō): The first magic that Nero learned it has become his strongest. Through the use of negative emotions, Nero can utilize the natural element of Darkness. This allows him to create weapons, soldiers, and various other attacks made completely out of the element. When in use the attacks give off an evil aura, fueled by Nero's negative emotions that he puts into each spell. Along with the creation of other things, Nero has absolute control over shadows and even the aspect of night itself. The spells that are created by this magic are not entirely black, there is an outline of red around the spells enhancing its evil presence. Most of the common spells that are used are various arcing and widespread attacks, however Near himself has become a master of using various concentrated attacks. At his peak performance, he is able to conjure such power shadows that his sells can overpower the most powerful of light magic spells. * '''Black Arrow: '(黒色矢: Kokushoku ya): A basic spell that Nero uses most often. Holding his right arm up, with his palm exposed, he collects dark magic into a large, basketball-sized sphere that hovers just in front of his hand. A pitch black magic seal will appear under his feet as he flexes his fingers causing the ball of darkness to explode into a volley of arrows shooting towards the target he is aiming for. The exact number of the arrows can increase and decrease based on how much magical energy is put into it. If he so chose, Nero could concentrate all of his energy into a single arrow that would be as large as a slayer's roar and stronger than it. * 'Dark Prison: '(闇監獄, Yami kangoku): There is no specific activation process for this spell as Nero has used it on many different occasions in various positions, for even more various purposes. The only commonality in the activation of it is a black magic circle that appears below him. After the circle has appeared shadows will leak out from it, seeking the target that he has chosen. Once one shadow has come into contact with it, the rest of the shadows follow and they will not stop until the target is encased in a sphere of pure darkness. Anyone trapped inside will lose all of their senses for the majority of the time they are in the sphere, only feeling what Nero wants them to feel. Darkness-Make 'Darkness-Make: '(影の造形魔法, Kage no zōkei mahō): A subspecies magic of Shadow Magic and Molding Magic that allows Nero to create and manipulate the element of shadows, creating various weapons, attacks, and even soldiers to fight for him. He developed this magic soon after learning his Darkness Magic. While developing it he quickly grew to master the magic, being able to create an almost limitless amount of constructs with what can be described as no end. * 'Darkness-Make: Sword: '(影制定:刃, Kage seitei: Ha): By concentrating shadows into his right hand, Nero creates a long, broadsword. The sword itself is as hard a steel, and capable of cutting through almost any material. With this sword, he is also able to send blasts of shadows at his opponent. This is his most proficient spell as he is a gifted swordsman and can use this spell to aid in his combative abilities by providing him a replacement sword, or a second one. * 'Darkness-Make: Tendrils: '(影制定:蔓; Kage seitei: Tsuru): Nero enacts this spell by using the pointer and middle finger of his right hand. Pointing and moving them in various directions, Nero can control and create black, vine like tendrils made of shadows that can surround and trap the target. The shadows that these vines are made of are nearly unbreakable, and are capable of being used to block sword strikes. * 'Darkness-Make: Soldier: '(影制定:鬼; Kage seitei: Oni): By waving his hand Nero can create nearly a dozen soldiers made of shadows. Despite the spell name, the soldiers that are created by this spell look demonic, standing at a height of nearly seven feet with horns and wings. Nero has complete control of the soldiers, using his hand to direct them where to go and where to attack. He can also use them as body guards, snapping his fingers to call them back to his side. The main weakness of this spell is when they are struck, they instantly disappear. Amaterasu '''Amaterasu:(天照 Amaterasu): The strongest magic that Nero has at his disposal, and one that he is unlikely to use unless his opponent is strong enough to force it out of him. It is a magic that Nero casts through specific hand motions and/or gestures. Through these sequence of hand movements, known as Mudras, magic seals will appear, varying in shape and size based on the spell being used. These seals usually appear as lines of text as opposed to the circles that appear below or around when others use . After being cast, the spells cause incredible explosions near or inside the are that Nero has targeted. The destructiveness of these explosions range, depending on the spell. * Formula 13: '(天照十三式: Amaterasu jū san-shiki): Despite being the weakest Amaterasu spell he has. This is still one of Nero's stronger spells. Using his pointer and middle finger, he draws two horizontal lines and one vertical line. As he does, the seals associated with the magic will appear in a spiral around the target. The shape is reminiscent of a cylinder, trapping the target within it before the seals glow their bright purple. The explosion that ensues is generated as a large pillar of pitch black flames. When a mage is struck with the blast, they are not only damaged by the flames that are created, but are also thrown upwards into the air. Once thrown, Nero is likely to following up the strike with various other dark magic spells. With it being one of the easier spells to cast, this is the more likely spell that Nero will use when he is fighting another mage. * '''Formula 22: '(天照二十二式, Amaterasu nijūni-shiki): In a manner similar to the previous spell, Nero concentrates his black magic into the tips of his right pointer and middle finger. He then does several finger jabs at quick speed, each one pointing at the specific places the attack will strike. Once he is finished with his jabs, several balls of black energy will appear at places that Nero directed on the targets bodies, these orbs of energy have the seals associated with the magic spinning around them. These orbs then explode in blasts of dark energy capable of causing severe physical damage while also burning a target. The burns however are not created by darkness and are thus able to harm a mage that would normally be immune to burns. * 'Formula 28: '(天照二十八式; Amaterasu Ni jūhachi-shiki): While it is one of the stronger formula in the magic, Nero views it as rather basic and fairly easy to cast. This is de to the minimal amount of hand movements he needs to use while casting. Positioning his fingers as though he were casting any other spell, he waves his fingers in front of him, lazily forming an S like pattern before three magic seals appear in front of him. From these seals a massive pillar of dark magical energy stretches into the sky while growing to nearly 20 feet wide. In addition to this effect, Nero can keep the explosion concentrated in a sphere, producing far more powerful effects. * 'Formula 44: '(): A spell that takes a steep turn away from the typical Amaterasu spells. Instead of creating a black effect, the spell generates white light that is used to pierce a target. The activation process for the spell is identical to other spells, except he uses his left hand for it. A white magic aura surrounds his pointer and middle finger as he motions to the target(s). He slowly starts moving his fingers in a circle as the light drifts off of them in a spiral pattern before he flicks his fingers toward the sky. Doing this creates seven magic circles above the target in a hexagonal shape. Each of the circles created this way starts shooting down rays of light to damage and pierce the target. * '''Hidden Formula: Black Iron Maiden:(隠式: 処女黒埋葬; Komo-shiki: Shojo kuro maisō): The strongest spell that Nero could use. Nero begins this by concentrating all of his magic power into his right hand and pointing it at the ground below a targets feet. From there he recites the spells incantation that causes pitch black lines to draw a square around the target. From the four points of the square beams of pitch black light shoot around 15 feet into the air before forming another square. Nero raises his hand toward the sky and the faces, edges of the pillar the target is now surrounded in begins to get covered in the same pitch black energy as the beams that created the pillar. Around the top of the pillar the magic separates and forms long, spear like appendages with star shapes at the end of them. Inside the pillar the target feels and nigh immeasurable amount of gravity capable of breaking every bone in their body. The spell itself requires all of the magical energy that Nero has, and grows stronger and weaker depending on how much he does have. He has only shown this spell once when he fought and killed the previous guildmaster of Abyss Fang. Barrier Magic Barrier Magic: '(障壁の魔法, Shōheki no Mahō): A purely defensive magic that Nero utilizes when combating opponents that strike multiple angles at once, or when fighting multiple people at once. It is a magic that allows him to solidify his magical power into shields that can defend against both physical and magical strikes. He can manipulate the shape and size of the barriers by expanding more or less magical energy. The strength of the barriers are also dependent on Nero's magical abilities, and how much energy he wishes to expend, ranging from simply the strength of a brick wall, to his strongest being as hard as steel. *'Hexagon:(六辺形; Rokuhenkei): The most basic barrier magic spell that Nero has in his arsenal. While its size can change based on the attack he is trying to block it keeps the same basic shape of a hexagonal sliver of greenish energy. While it is not his strongest barrier, it can handle a multitude of attacks before cracking. Nero normally keeps this active when in battle against multiple people, keeping it behind is back, around his neck in case he gets attacked from behind. Telepathy Telepathy:(念話; Nen-banashi): Telepathy is a rather basic magic that Nero picked up during his youth. It allows him to transfer his thoughts, and the thoughts of those around him into others. Nero has complete mastery over this as he views it as a rather weak magic, however he finds it useful. He uses it to keep tabs on the majority of his members, the only ones exempt from it are those he knows will not betray him. When his subordinates are on missions he tends to contact them on how the mission is going and on what they are doing. This shows Nero extraordinary prowess in the magic as he has seemingly no distance limit with it. Physical Prowess Ways of Combat Master Hand to Hand Combatant: ' '''Expert Swordsman: ' Capabilities '''Genius Level Intellect: '''From a young age, Nero was capable of consuming and understanding most of the knowledge that was placed in front of him. He always read and studied books that were leaps and bounds ahead of his peers levels. He shows a complete mastery over history, science, and strategies of those that he studies. With the knowledge that he gains from what he has learned, he is able to plan multiple steps ahead of his opponent, finding every weakness they have and making sure to exploit it. One of his greatest instances of planning steps ahead are his acquiring of Devil Slayer lacrima after only being told about it once, and preparing one of his mages in Abyss Fang to have it implanted in them. '''Master Manipulator: Since becoming a dark mage, it has been shown that Nero can easily manipulate people to do his bidding. While there have been many times he has manipulated others, including becoming the Guild Master of Abyss Fang after orchistrating a revolt, the greatest example of this was when he met a family who asked him to do a job for them when he was just starting as a dark mage for the guild Abyss Fang. Even at that young age, he was gunning for the position of Guild Master. It was clear from when he met them that they would be unable to fully pay for his services. While it did bother him that he would not get a full pay, he saw something that piqued his interest. The mother was pregnant at the time. If he could get the couple to trust him, he could take the child, and turn it into the perfect killing machine. After he finished the job, he took what the couple had offered him and told them he would protect them until they were back on their feet. It was only after the child was born that he took what he really wanted. However he didn't really take her, the parents were more than happy to pay off any debt to him they had.